New Orleans

[bernardo]

Why did they stupidly and idiotically build a city below sea level?

[dothawkes]

film rights?

[jno]

lol dot! It's on the river and the lake, 100 miles from the sea, so maybe nobody noticed. Perhaps your next question will be how the river flows uphill to the sea... I'll leave dot to answer that.

[derekblue]

the one thing i have noticed is that no one seems to care very much.Just goes to show how bad Americas image is in the rest of the world.

[David H]

Probably the same reason people build in river flood plains, and whinge when they actually flood!

People never seem to think it'll happen to them (wait for the west coast quake for that to occur again) and probably the greed of the builders who don't live in the places they put up means they don't really care what happens once they've got their cash. Shipping is probably the other reason though having never been there I can't guarantee how major a port it is.

[Clanad]

Gee, you mean like Venice, San Diego, most of the Netherlands, Tokyo, areas of London, Shanghai, and many others?  I really don't know... crazy, isn't it?

[libertie]

Well I for one care......I think it's an awful tragedy!  I visit the states often and have met and made many good friends there!! 

[Grunty]

Of course it's a terrible tragedy and I for one wouldn't wish it on anyone.  All the same, America now knows what it is like to be invaded by an enemy that kills its people, destroys their homes, leaves them without essential services etc. etc.  All the more poignant when the enemy - global warming - is one that America has already dismissed.  (See Boston Globe 30 August).

[metagirl]

Blame the French. Plus, this is not uncommon. Many of our major international cities/towns are built on reclaimed swamp land, marshes, etc..etc.. all at or below sea level.

Give the anti-Americanism a break folks.

[metagirl]

and Grunty, no lessons were learned. I haven't heard that any of Bush's property or that of his Cabinet's was affected. Or members of their family killed.

Get a grip Grunty.

[libertie]

Oh dear Grunty........that seems a touch harsh!!

[littleoldme]

10 hours and 15 minutes before someone turned a question that had nothing to do with American foreign policy into a political rant against it.

You people are slipping.

[Fitzer]

They didn't build it below sea level, it has sunk over the years. Apparently it was originally built on land that hadn't long been deposited by the river, this has since compressed and lowered the ground level, it's still sinking at two thirds of an inch per year.

[jno]

dunno, littleoldme, something in the news this morning suggested that money was actually diverted from flood precautions to Iraq operations, so the link may not be entirely tenuous. And the current administration's denial of global warming does prompt a certain Schadenfreude when it comes back and bites them on the bum, however much we may sympathise with individuals.

o country can legislate against weather, but you would expect a rich country to be well organised to cope with it when it happens, so politics can't really be kept out of it.

[Octavius]

The city sits on the banks of the Mississippi, where sediment from the river had created areas of elevated land called "natural levees." New Orleans' earliest buildings sat on top of these levees, but as the population grew, houses were built farther inland at lower elevations. To create usable land, water had to be pumped out of the area, which in turn caused the ground to sink even lower. It's possible for part of New Orleans to exist below sea level because the levees that surround the city protect it (most of the time) from floods.

European settlement was begun by France almost 200 years after the Spanish had entered the area.  In 1717, France granted a monopoly on commerce in order to promote development of the territory. The MISSISSIPPI SCHEME was designed to entice investment in what he claimed was a land of fabulous mineral wealth. The scheme fell apart in 1720, with no financial rewards to the investors, but the territory gained population as a result of Law's promotion.

[littleoldme]

Fair point, jno, but as metagirl points out, how many of the victims of Hurricane Katrina made the decision to invade Iraq or Vietnam or Grenada or wherever? How many of them refused to ratify treaties on global warming? With so many innocent people dead and missing, this whole "serves the Yanks right" attitude really sticks in the craw with me.

[nedflanders]

Global Warming/Climate Change + Hurricanes = No link whatsoever!  Do not beleive the Environmental hype people!

[jno]

can't help wondering, ned... is there any potential evidence that you would accept showing a link, or is your mind irrevocably made up on this one? Here is a link, from someone who after 30 years' study might reasonably be thought to know what he's talking about... but would you accept the word of someone who's studied it, or do you feel you know more about it than he does? Serious question. 

[nedflanders]

jno

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-warm30aug30,1,2676962.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

For every renowned scientist who beleives one thing there are always another side to the story.

[goldenboy]

wouldn't it always be wise to err on the side of caution anyway with the whole global warming hurricane thing. as it seems to me that a told you so attitude does no one any good when we've all been washed into the gulf of mexico / north sea? seems to me that hedging our bets by not ballsing up the worlds climate would be a good idea.

[jno]

sorry, I can't see that ned, but I agree the matter is disputed. What I wanted to know was why, with scientists in dispute, you are so sure of the answer? As goldenboy points out, in the case of doubt and in a matter of such moment, surely we should err on the cautious side?

Apologies if you are a scientist yourself with expertise in meteorology... are you?